As tumultuous 2020 comes to a close, healthcare marketers are looking forward to next year and determining the best ways to reach patients via strategic digital messaging.
Here, five healthcare marketing executives share the focus of their digital strategy for 2021.
Editor's note: Responses have been edited lightly for clarity and style.
Laurie Ellison, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Children's Mercy Kansas City (Mo.): At Children's Mercy Kansas City, we are focused on making our "digital front door" wider and easier to access than ever before. When a parent is confronted with news their child is ill and needs medical care, the last thing they want is an experience that is difficult or disjointed. Our focus in 2021 will be on making parents' interactions with us as seamless and frictionless as possible — from the moment they start searching online for the best provider until the moment they receive their bill.
Sandra Mackey, chief marketing officer, Bon Secours Mercy Health (Cincinnati): In 2021, we will continue to focus on the health and well-being of consumers by meeting them where they are. Leveraging a full complimentary suite of integrated tools, our goal is to personalize and uniquely tailor a digital experience using a variety of channels.
Suzanne Hendery, chief marketing and customer officer, Renown Health (Reno, Nevada): In 2021, Renown is excited to introduce our community of 500,000 to a new website that will make it simple, easy and convenient for every person to connect and engage with medical professionals to get immediate care for their health and healthcare needs, understand their costs and benefits coverage and provide them with information to live their best lives.
Catherine S. Harrell, chief marketing officer, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System (Baton Rouge, La.): We'll be focusing on our systems and processes that support access, convenience and personalization. Ultimately, we want to offer more value in our relationships; one size never fits all. The marketing team's partnerships with our technology and operations colleagues are critically important, and we're excited for the insights different teams bring to common organizational goals. Taking lessons about implementation and adoption that we've learned in the past months and using those experiences to advance our digital plan is top on the 2021 list.
Ken Chaplin, chief marketing officer, Cancer Treatment Centers of America (Boca Raton, Fla.): Our digital marketing strategy will focus on utilizing targeting capabilities within third-party data sets to deliver high-impact digital/over-the-top video messages directly to potential patients in strategic geographies.